I have a couple of old panasonic sa-xr which are class D.
They are actually surround amps and usually sound thin and lifeless without any body.
Was wondering if adding a tube preamp will make them sound better? Like the Bellari one?
Appreciate the feedback.
All you need to worry about is if the input impedance of the amp is at least 10X or more than the output impedance of the pre. After that its mostly about the sound and whether you like it. I have paired an old Tripath amp with Electrocompaniet and Audio research Pre one a SS and the other a tube and both sounded good.
Contrary to popular beliefs like "Tubes add colour" or "Digital amps are lo fi" etc a tube amp can be extremely neutral and a SS coloured as in the end its it design and not the components which matter. I use a Linear tube audio pre and it is perhaps one of the more neutral ones I have heard, but again adding and subtracting colour to sound only make the end result worse.
I personally prefer colourations to be brought in only in the Speaker+Amp synergy rather than any other component upstream and prefer those as neutral as possible.
I am from India. No hifimart here
I was thrilled when I saw it listed at Amazon and thought I got a steal. Now my heart breaks thinking it's not a new unit and I'll have to let go of it.
My apologies for having a nice chuckle at the expense of your misery but who do you think runs this forum? Try clicking on any of the ad banners above and below.
Its simply brilliant. I daresay you can't build a better "system" for the price or anywhere near it!
I'm planning to gift it to a friend in a few days time. Just making sure it works fine and performs up to expectations
To clarify, while this is a rather bold statement, i tried building a separates system through a combination of the PSB Alpha P5 and the SMSL DA8S which comes for more or less the same price +/- 1K.
While the PSB's are very good speakers with a stellar sensitivity of 89db which aids the SMSL DA8S that runs out of breath pretty early despite the 40w 8ohm rating. And one has to keep in mind that the only inputs available on the SMSL DA8S are Bluetooth and RCA and XLR. Basically, no digital inputs so you have to add a DAC which adds to the price. I had to add a topping E10 to get coaxial, digital and USB into the DA8S so +11K. And while adding the E10 provides more resolution, the M20HD still sounds better i.e. it goes louder, is more room filling and has a better overall rounded sound. It does not leave you wanting in any respect.
P.s. - the PSB's sound better with good amplification such as the Marantz PM6006 but again, nowhere the same bass performance despite a slightly larger driver size.
